Week 1 Student Athlete Spotlight: Kyle Grady of Point Loma H.S.

It's a regular summer afternoon at Point Loma - the shuffle of pads, the shout of coaches, and the B738 making its normal liftoff from San Diego Airport on the 3:30 flight to Denver.

Things are done a little differently around here.

Now they're doing the different things differently as well. You would when there's a fast moving quarterback with a 4.7 GPA under center.

"There's a lot of alumni that would love to playing here right now," Kyle Grady said. "We're the class that gets to have lights [for the first time] and we're going to show that we deserve it."

Maybe all that time spent under aircraft had impact on the signal caller. When he's not putting it in the air, he's putting himself in the air - with a different flight path.

"I went to Catalina on a helicopter with my parents and it was super cool," Grady said. "They asked if I wanted to learn, and I said absolutely."

That's how we ended up in a cold hangar on a overcast morning. This early riser wasn't studying game film. This time, it's propellers and gas gauges.

"There's a whole checklist of about 50 things," Kyle Grady said. "Now it's like second nature, but at first I was like, 'How do I do this?'

"You kind of get to just become one with the helicopter."

By the time he graduates from Point Loma, Grady will be qualified to fly to his college destination. It shouldn't be hard to find a landing spot. Michigan Stadium isn't called the Big House for show. Coach Harbaugh might not like the 50-yard-line becoming a helipad, but he'll like the walkon quarterback at the controls.

"I went to [USD Day Camp] not expecting him to be there," Grady said. "Then I saw coach Harbaugh out there and introduced myself.

'To be able to talk to him and get that conversation after is incredible."